From Trump's crossover to China's superconducting breakthroughs, the global nuclear fusion commercialization race is heating up

Under the dual drive of surging energy demand and the explosion of artificial intelligence computing power, controllable nuclear fusion technology, regarded as the "Holy Grail" of clean energy, is accelerating its transition from the laboratory to the capital market. Recently, with a multi-billion dollar merger deal in the United States and breakthroughs by Chinese startups in key magnet technologies, the global commercialization race for nuclear fusion has entered a heated stage.

The latest focus in this field comes from Trump's media group. According to reports on the 23rd, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT) has agreed to merge with nuclear fusion startup TAE Technologies in a deal valued at $6 billion. Following this news, DJT's stock price surged nearly 70%. According to the terms of the deal, shareholders of both parties will hold about half of the equity in the merged entity, with Trump's media group, as the major shareholder, becoming the holding company of TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences.

This transaction not only triggered significant fluctuations in the secondary market but also marked a notable escalation in top capital's bets on the nuclear fusion track. TAE Technologies, founded in 1998, boasts a luxurious lineup of investors including Google, Goldman Sachs, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Sumitomo Corporation of America. The company plans to use neutral particle beam and magnet technology instead of standard laser technology and aims to begin construction of its first commercial-scale nuclear fusion power plant in 2026.

Meanwhile, China is also showing strong momentum in this cutting-edge field. According to Xinhua News Agency, in Shanghai, the Energy Singularity team, focusing on high-temperature superconducting tokamak technology, is challenging the limits of magnetic field strength and achieved a breakthrough in March this year: its magnet reached 21.7T, surpassing the record held by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and CFS. The company plans to complete a new generation of tokamak before 2027, achieving a commercial fusion key indicator of 10 times energy gain.

Many giants entering the fray, the U.S. nuclear fusion investment boom surges

With the global nuclear energy revival and sustained high energy demand, nuclear fusion technology, which had experienced a long stagnation, is once again becoming a darling of capital. Before Trump's deal, tech giants had already begun to lay out their plans. Helion Energy, supported by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, launched the construction of its first commercial nuclear fusion power plant in Chelan County, Washington, last August and successfully passed a rigorous environmental assessment More critical commercial validation comes from the signing of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Two years ago, Microsoft signed an agreement with Helion Energy to purchase electricity generated from its nuclear fusion starting in 2028. Constellation Energy was designated as the marketer of zero-carbon power from the Helion Orion plant. Helion's "Trenta" prototype has achieved a critical fuel temperature of 180 million degrees Fahrenheit and is attempting to bypass the traditional steam turbine cycle by directly converting the released energy into electricity through magnetic inertial fusion (MIF) technology.

In addition, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) in Massachusetts is collaborating with MIT and has raised approximately $3 billion in funding. The company is focused on developing high-temperature superconducting magnets to verify the net energy output of its SPARC device and pave the way for the commercial power plant ARC.

Technological Breakthroughs Accelerate, Chinese Companies Refresh Core Indicator Records

Meanwhile, China is entering this race at an extremely fast pace. Currently, China ranks first in the world in the number of nuclear fusion patents, and the speed of project construction is breaking records. In the commercialization process, Chinese private enterprises are making substantial progress in key technological routes.

According to Xinhua News Agency, in Shanghai, the Energy Singularity team, which focuses on high-temperature superconducting tokamak technology, is challenging the limits of magnetic field strength and achieved a breakthrough in March this year: its magnet reached 21.7T, surpassing the record held by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and CFS. The company plans to complete a new generation of tokamak by 2027, achieving a commercial fusion key indicator of a tenfold energy gain.

In addition to Energy Singularity, China's nuclear fusion startup ecosystem is becoming increasingly rich. Located in Chengdu, Hanhai Fusion Energy is adopting a linear field reversed configuration (FRC) technology route similar to that of Helion Energy in the U.S., aiming to create a modular "mini-sun." In Xi'an, Xinghuan Fusion Energy, founded by former members of Tsinghua University, built a fusion experimental device in just 279 days. Investment institutions, including Sequoia China and Qingsong Capital, have begun to pay attention to this hard technology track, and some companies have started exploring "by-product" commercialization applications of neutron sources in fields such as medical isotope production.

Commercialization Challenges and the Patience of Long-Term Capital

Despite frequent technological breakthroughs, nuclear fusion still faces severe challenges in achieving true grid-level commercial applications. Industry insiders generally believe that the current device operating times are mostly in the hundreds of seconds, far below the requirements for long-term stable power generation. Additionally, the development of advanced materials that can withstand extreme high temperatures and strong neutron radiation is still in its early stages, and achieving net energy gain requires more efficient system coordination.

The difference in funding scale is also a significant feature of the current competition between China and the U.S. According to industry estimates, private funding in this field in China over the past five years has been approximately $500 million, while the U.S. has invested about $5 billion during the same period. Compared to the tens of billions of dollars in financing amounts for U.S. startups, leading Chinese companies like Energy Singularity have demonstrated a high level of capital utilization efficiency For investors, nuclear fusion remains a long-term investment theme. As Kang Jianshu, Executive Director of Lightboat Capital, stated, this field is suitable for long-termists dedicated to deepening hardcore technology, with investment horizons potentially lasting 8 to 10 years. However, with the combination of HTS materials, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing technologies, the timeline for the feasibility of commercial nuclear fusion is being accelerated.

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